Heatwave in Italy leaves two men dead as health ministry issues warnings

People get drinking water in front of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, on June 28, 2019. Sixteen Italian cities are on high alert after two elderly men died from heatstroke in what is being touted as one of the most intense heatwaves to hit Italy in recent years. (Xinhua/Elisa Lingria)

ROME, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Sixteen Italian cities are on high alert after two elderly men died from heatstroke in what is being touted as one of the most intense heatwaves to hit Italy in recent years.

The two men who will go down as the first two Italian victims of the heatwave this year were both in the northern part of the country. Both died this week.

The first, a homeless man, was found dead in a park near the main train station in Milan, and the second was found dead in the countryside near Ascoli Piceno in the region of Le Marche. The second man's family reported him missing on Wednesday after he failed to return from a walk through some fields near his home.

The Italian Ministry of Health on Thursday issued its sternest warning for residents and visitors in Bolzano, Brescia, Florence, Perugia, Rieti and Rome. On Friday, the ministry added ten more cities to the list, including Bologna, Milan, Naples, Turin, and Venice.

Temperatures are expected to reach as high as 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas.

Similar heat warnings have been issued in other parts of Europe, including France, Germany, and Spain.

The Health Ministry issued guidelines warning that infants, the elderly, the overweight or otherwise in poor health are most at risk, noting that people with allergies or respiratory problems could suffer more than normal. But even healthy people run a risk for dehydration, exhaustion, and sunstroke.

Government officials advised people to stay out of the sun, drink extra fluids, and eat more, smaller meals. They also called on people to check on the vulnerable living alone and urged people to avoid calling emergency services unless a problem is severe, since ambulances and hospitals are expected to see emergency calls rise.

"It is advisable to avoid strenuous activities, drink fluids, and use common sense," the ministry said in a statement.

In Rome, municipal officials were handing out water bottles to tourists and other passersby.

Additionally, it's possible some parts of Italy will see power blackouts due to increased use of air conditioning systems in buildings and homes. Enel, Italy's main electric utility, said that as of Friday, its power grid has been able to compensate for the increased energy use but that if the hot weather continues it could cause problems.

Marco Onio, a health professor at the University of Palermo, said the biggest risks are to those who try to over-expert themselves despite the weather.

"The main advice is to respect the heat and not to try to do too much," Onio told Xinhua. "If someone tells me 'I've experienced hot weather before, I can handle it', I would worry that person could have problems. The reason is simple: once the temperature rises above the normal human body temperature (of around 37 degrees Celsius or 98 degrees Fahrenheit) the problem is enormous from a physiological perspective."

Weather tracking services are predicting no break in the weather over the next ten days or more.

Officials said the conditions in Italy could approach those from the 2015 heatwave that left so many people dead that it had a measurable impact on life expectancy statistics in Italy. The worst Italian heatwave in recent years occurred in 2003, lasting from April to July and leaving hundreds of people dead in its wake.